AN: Here's another chapter. Ooo I'm likeing this story. This chapter is dedicated to all those who reviewed, because as you know, reviews make my world go round. So please reviw, you want to keep me happy don't you. 'Cause as the writer I have the power to kill off certian characters cough Warrick and Greg cough. :) So please review, keep me happy. :)

Sara sat on her couch, staring at nothing. Greg was sitting at the other end of the couch, waiting. He didn't prod or try to coax anything out of her. He knew that if she was going to tell him anything, she would have to do it on her own. If he tried to pry it out of her she would shut down and block him out. So he just let her sit. Maybe she wouldn't tell him what was bothering her. And that would be okay.

Sara was contemplating telling Greg what was really wrong. She couldn't come up with any proper reasons why she shouldn't except to keep her past to herself. But maybe that wasn't the best reason. They sat there in silence but it wasn't a tense awkward silence. It was just absence of words and noise. Sara knew that at that moment, though Greg did want to know what was wrong, nothing was expected of her. She knew that if she didn't tell him Greg wouldn't be upset, wouldn't push her for an answer. Greg had always been there, with a joke and a smile. He was a hopeless flirt, but he could make her smile even on dark days. Oh course, lately the dark days had gotten even darker.

Sara looked at Greg who looked back at her. Their eyes retained contact for a moment. Greg knew Sara was about to tell him, but she couldn't seem to get started.

"This isn't about what happened to Nick, is it," Greg asked softly. Sara shook her head and Greg asked no more questions.

"No," Sara said, her voice just above a whisper. This was her moment to shut up, to refuse to speak, to be a coward and shove those memories to the back of her head once again. But of course she didn't do that. Greg reached out and held her hand. He gave it a light squeeze.

"We moved around a lot...when I was little. We couldn't let the hospital staff recognize us. We had to move around a lot...When they'd fight...mostly at night...I guess they thought I couldn't hear them, that I'd stay asleep, tucked into my bed. That I wouldn't notice the bruises the next day." Sara paused for a moment. Greg didn't say anything. He was starting to piece together the puzzle that was Sara Sidel.

"The fights got louder...and one night...I walked into their bedroom...There was a lot of blood... all over. My mother was standing over my father...she had a... a knife in her hand." Tears started to form at the corner of her eyes. She tried to hold them back but they fell anyway.

"I could hear the sirens...She didn't try to run or hide...didn't even try to stop them from taking me away."

Now her sobs stopped her from continuing. She had told Greg, she had relived it for him. And he was amazed and grateful she had trusted him enough. Greg felt Sara's pain. Not from direct experience or knowledge, but because he was her friend, and friends feel each other's pain. Greg moved closer and wrapped his arms around her. He squeezed her tightly. She leaned into him, still crying, knowing that he wouldn't mind her tears getting his shirt wet. He would hold her like that until the earth crumbled into oblivion if she let him.

Warrick's cell phone began to ring. Warrick groaned and rolled over in bed. He reached for the night stand where his phone lay. Somehow he managed to flip the phone open.

"Brown," he said, annoyed at whoever woke him up.

"Warrick."

It was Catherine. All Warrick's annoyance evaporate and was replaced with slight worry.

"I'm sorry, I know you're probably sleeping-"

"Cath, it's okay. What's the matter."

Catherine sounded rushed and stressed out.

"Ecklie called me in and I have no one who can watch Lindsey."

Warrick looked quickly at the clock. It was 3:00 in the morning. No wonder Catherine couldn't find anyone to watch her.

"I feel really bad asking you last minute and all, but can you please just watch her for a few hours." She sounded so desperate.

"Sure, Cath. I'll be over in a minute."

Warrick heard her sigh in relief. "Thanks so much Warrick." She defiantly sounded relieved.

"No problem."

Of course Warrick would watch Lindsey for a few hours. He loved that little girl, and he wouldn't turn Catherine down for anything. Cath could've quite literally asked him to jump off a bridge and he would.

It didn't take Warrick long to get ready and out the door. He was knocking on Catherine's door before 3:30. He didn't even finish knocking before the door flew open. Catherine was smiling and she gave him a quick hug.

"Thank you Warrick," she said into his ear.

"Any time Cath. Now you should go before Ecklie blows up at you."

Catherine laughed and started walking to her car. As she did, she called back. "Lindsey's in the kitchen. It's summer so she doesn't have to sleep if she doesn't want to."

Warrick nodded and watched Catherine drive off. Then he went into the house. As she said, Lindsey was in the kitchen. She was seated at the table eating what looked like a peanut butter sandwich.

"Hi Lindsey," Warrick said.

Lindsey looked up and grinned at Warrick. "Hey Warrick."

"So, how've you been," Warrick asked, taking a seat across from her.

Lindsey shrugged. "Okay I guess. Staying out of trouble anyway."

Warrick chuckled. "Well that's good."

"Hey," Lindsey said, suddenly getting a lot more serious. "How's Nick?"

Warrick also got a lot more serious."He's doing . . . better," Warrick said slowly. He didn't really want to talk about Nick. Lindsey obvious caught the hint because she didn't ask for clarification. She just dropped it and Warrick was grateful.

"My mom's worried about you, you know," Lindsey said after a moment Warrick nodded.
"Yeah, she told me." Warrick had no idea where this conversation was going.

"She cares about you Warrick. A lot," Lindsey said. Warrick could tell the girl was carefully considering her words.

"I care about her too. She's one of my best friends," Warrick said sincerely. Then Lindsey shook her head.

"That's not what I meant," she said. Her sandwich was now gone. Lindsey got up from her seat and went to the fridge.

"You want anything," Lindsey asked.

"No thanks," Warrick said. He had an odd suspicion that Lindsey was dragging her response out on purpose. She poured herself a glass of milk, and Warrick just waited. When she sat back down, she took a long sip before continuing.

"I mean she really cares about you," Lindsey said, putting a lot of stress on her 'really'. For the second time in several days, Warrick felt like a kid again. He looked at Lindsey like he couldn't figure out what she was getting at. In reality he knew exactly what young Lindsey Willows was implying. And he couldn't believe he was having this conversation with a 13-year-old.

Lindsey gave an over exaggerated sigh. "She's in love with you Warrick. Seriously," Lindsey said like it was the most obvious thing on the earth. Warrick's mind shut down right there. It wasn't that he couldn't believe it, he could. Or maybe it was mostly wishful thinking. It wasn't that he wasn't happy with this confirmation, he was. He couldn't put an exact date on the time he was sure of his feelings towards Catherine, but they were there. It wasn't that this would bring more problems for both of them, there was no doubt it would. Especially with Ecklie breathing down everyone's necks. It was the honesty and bluntness in the way Lindsey spoke. Just stating something that was completely obvious to her. It might have been obvious to him too if he didn't try so hard to ignore it. Or maybe his ignoring it proved how obvious it was.

He didn't know how long he spent staring off into space, not really connected to the earth. Lindsey didn't try to bring him back. She just sat at the table, sipping her milk, with a small smile on her face.

"You're a sharp girl, aren't you." Warrick said. Lindsey's smile widened.

"So they tell me," she said and Warrick laughed.